“Trump” isn’t the problem anymore…

“Trump” isn’t the problem anymore…

Donald Trump, in my opinion, is no longer the problem.

He remains narcissistic, of course, and may have a personality disorder as so many Beltway folks believe.

But now is not the time to get all worked up over whether he’s saying he has “regrets” instead of putting on his big-boy pants and apologizing. We have much bigger problems to contend with. Trump can no longer be relied upon to shoot his mouth off and push more and more voters away from.

And you don’t have to be a CableTV talking head to figure this one out.

Just look at Trump’s new “optics:”

They’re staging meetings that mimic what presidential Cabinet meetings look like on TV. Huge conference table. White guys in suits sitting there focused on Trump who is in the “power position” middle of the table. He’s framed by a backdrop of the campaign’s “Trump/Pence” sign and flags on either side.

They’re now introducing variations based on what race/ethnicity the participants are. A recent “meeting” on Hispanics had Mr. Trump surrounded by Latinos. Another featured Black men. They may eventually get around to a group of Women, but I’d bet we’ll see guys in “uniforms” before that. Military uniforms would be best to help fight off fear about Trump’s tiny fingers so close to setting off a nuclear war, but cops would work too.

They’ve got him reading lines off a “teleprompter,” his new handler’s way of letting him say as much craziness as he likes, but with wordsmithing done by political pros who know how to make that stuff sound well, “crazy.” It will even sound intelligent, reasonable to nearly half (but, please God, not one vote more) of our fellow citizens.

Someone over at “Trump Tower” was smart enough grab hold of the Louisiana tragedy, stick Trump on his plane and boogey on down to get photo and video of him being “presidentially empathic.” Or at least as much as he’s capable of acting, while giving some cash to the recovery effort. But someone over there took those conventional “optics” one better by sending a semi-truck filled with stuff flood victims would need and Trump personally handing things over to them.

This stuff has fingerprints all over it. And they don’t belong to the newest campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. Don’t get me wrong, she’s good, very good. But not this good. This good requires a “producer.”

Like the man who most recently turned “news” into part entertainment, part glitz and a few facts mixed together topped with a right-wing slant nearly propaganda. And they called it FOX.

Roger Ailes, as luck would have it, was suddenly available to Trump as a unpaid “adviser.” I suspect that the women over at FOX who outed the ‘ole lecher for his years of sexual harassment weren’t counting on him walking out the door with millions of dollars and a direct line to a presidential candidate.

To be fair, some might argue that it’s Trump’s other “Roger,” Roger Stone who’s crafting this stuff. But this material has too much finesse for Stone. He’s a sneaky S.O.B. who’s handywork is littered across years of politics. But compared to Ailes, Stone is just a few steps above college pranksters.

But anyone who is paying attention knows that the “big brain” behind all of this is Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon. He’s who replaced Paul Manafort who has been busy trying to do personal damage control since being outed as a PR hack for the Russians.

Bannon is the man behind the “Trump ideology.” To get a much more complete understanding of Bannon than I can provide right now, just Google him. As you read about him keep this in mind: This is the man who is tube feeding the Republican Party Nominee for President of the United States Donald J. Trump. And when you start thinking this can’t be happening, it is.

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About Bob Grossfeld

Bob is a longtime political & public affairs media consultant. Based in Phoenix, AZ he spends a great deal of his time doing guerrilla therapy for his fellow Arizonans before they succumb to the state's lunacy.
The media calls on him frequently to help explain Arizona politics with a straight face.